Site of The Utica Riot of 1835

Site of The Utica Riot of 1835. The Oneida County Freedom Trail Walking Tour - Stop 1. The Utica Riot exposed the deep divide between Abolitionists and their opponents both in the North and the South. Wherever they met, Abolitionists faced protests, property destruction, serious injury, and death. , The atmosphere was tense as 600 Abolitionists from across New York State and beyond assembled here on October 21st 1835. Fearing conflict, Alvan Stewart, Esq., Rev. Beriah Green, and others began the convention an hour earlier than scheduled. Shortly after a resolution established the New York State Anti-Slavery Society, a large mob (including several prominent Uticans) descended upon the group. , Led by Oneida County Judge Chester Hayden and United States Congressman Samuel Beardsley, the mob – known as the “Committee of 25” – burst into the church demanding that the meeting end and that those gathered leave town immediately. ,
The Liberator quoted Rep. Beardsley, a member of the angry mob: “the disgrace of holding an abolition convention in the city is a deeper one than that of twenty mobs, and it would be better to have Utica razed or have it destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah, than to have the convention meet here.” , “Just hand out old Stewart!” the mob roared, calling for the Utica resident and convention organizer. Plans to burn Stewart's home (near present-day Stanley Theater) halted only when the mob learned it was well defended. At the same time, The Oneida Whig newspaper announced that “the printing materials of the Abolitionist newspaper in this city, have been thrown out of the windows on the walk.” , After the mob cleared the church. Utica-born Gerrit Smith invited the delegates to reconvene on his estate in nearby Peterboro. The next day 300 Abolitionists made the 27-mile trip to finish organization of the society. , Establishment of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society marked Oneida County as a center of the Abolitionist Movement. Local delegates Gerrit Smith, James DeLong, Spencer Kellogg, Alvan Stewart, and Beriah Green would go on to become leaders of note both here and on the national level. , And despite the efforts of angry locals to end a convention, a movement in Oneida County was under way. , [Box, bottom right] Regarding Gerrit Smith's impact on the Anti-Slavery movement in America, the New York Times declared:

The history of the most important half century of our national life will be imperfectly written if it fails to place Gerrit Smith in the front rank of the men whose influence was most felt in the accomplishment of its results. … He was active and powerful in forming the public sentiment that controlled politicians.

[Caption (top right)] The 2nd Presbyterian Church – site of the riot – as it would have stood here in 1835.